Reclosable containers are used to protect sliced food products from mechanical damage during shipping and to retard desiccation and spoilage. Such containers have been commonly used with sliced cheese products. Reclosable containers have been used with slices which are either individually wrapped or left unwrapped before being stacked and inserted into the container. The slices are typically oriented horizontally, i.e., with each slice in a horizontal plane. During shipping, the sliced food products often become compressed together. As a result, both individually wrapped and unwrapped slices are often difficult to separate from one another prior to their removal from the container. In order to separate the food slices, a consumer or food preparer may have to excessively handle the slices. Such handling is generally undesirable and inconvenient, especially with unwrapped slices.
The prior art includes disposable box-like containers with an integral hinged lid attached to the back wall, made from a thin layer of a semi-rigid plastic material. In one particular prior art container, the back wall of the container has two vertical flutes which are spaced from one another and which provide a degree of access to the rear edges of the slices. However, if the container is held in one hand with the front wall facing the user, and the consumer uses his or her other hand to open the lid and remove the slices, the consumer has no visual contact with the rear edges of the slices which are being engaged. Therefore, the consumer cannot easily count the number of slices before removing them from the container. Moreover, the mechanics of inserting two fingers at the rear of the container can be awkward, particularly because the hinge of the container tends to urge the lid toward the closed position.
In another particular prior art container, vertical flutes are formed in each of the walls. However, in this prior art container, as well as in the previously described prior art container, the flutes are not large enough to provide convenient access to the edges of the slices.
Some existing disposable sliced food containers are difficult to reclose properly. Such containers are typically formed from a relatively thin layer of a polyester or other polymeric material having a thickness of about 0.01 in. When the consumer applies pressure to the lid of one of these disposable containers to open or close it, the container tends to deform, and may not open or close properly. Another problem with the prior disposable containers is that they increase the volume of package material which must be disposed of or recycled when the product has been used.
One object of the invention is to provide a reclosable container from which stacked, sliced food products may be easily removed without excessive handling.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a reclosable container from which a desired number of food products may be easily removed.
A further object of the invention is to provide a container which is easily and repeatably closed.
Further objects and advantages of the invention are described below and shown in the accompanying drawings.